Hawaii Act 48:

It sure didn't take long for someone to find the first loophole in Hawaii's new Act 48 - designed to help homeowners in foreclosure. And wouldn't you guess, its Mortgage Giant Fannie Mae -You really need to have an understanding of what Act 48 was designed to do, and how this affects homeowner's rights.

In short: Act 48 helped homeowners in a Non-Judicial foreclosure, it forced the bank to meet eye to eye with the homeowners, and more so, it forced them to take a hard look at whether or not a "loan Mod" (HAMP) could actually help, both the Homeowner and the Bank. And if not, it forced the bank to prove they have to right to foreclose. By taking their foreclosures out of "Non-Judicial" status and converting them to "Judicial" - Act 48 has no affect on the process anymore - you're done, there's nobody left to help?

Pretty sneaky move - especially since it only affects Hawaii - see the new notice:If you look at my previous report on Act 48: Will it Help Hawaii or Hurt Hawaii? You will see me note that act 48 would not have a serious effect on the already "backlogged" courts - WELL, this just changed it all up. Before, only "owner occupied" homes qualified, and the number of owner "occupied homes" in Hawaii, that have the ability to qualify for the loan mod's were not a significant amount, most homes in foreclosure are "investor" homes purchased from the new found wealth in the refinance market on the mainland - back in the Hey-days'Now, every single Fannie Mae foreclosure will see the courts, and unfortunately, this will have a serious effect on the backlogged Courts, just sitting here shaking my head, why wouldn't our legislators include "Judicial" foreclosures in Act: 48 ?

Hawaii Legislative Changes Affecting Non-Judicial ForeclosuresJune 10, 2011This Notice pertains to existing and future foreclosure referrals in the State of Hawaii. Recently, the Hawaii legislature passed SB 651, effective as of May 5, 2011. In response to this new law, Fannie Mae is directing servicers as follows:Effective immediately and until further notice, all new Fannie Mae foreclosures in Hawaii must be commenced as judicial foreclosures.

Effective immediately, all pending Fannie Mae non-judicial foreclosures in Hawaii that have not proceeded to sale should be dismissed and converted to judicial foreclosures. Fannie Mae is establishing a maximum allowable foreclosure fee for Hawaii judicial foreclosures of $2,200. This fee applies to all new Hawaii foreclosures as well as any pending Hawaii foreclosures that must be restarted judicially, and has been updated in the Allowable Attorney and Trustee Foreclosure Fees document oneFannieMae.com.

Due to potential title insurance issues, Fannie Mae may be required to eliminate certain recent REO acquisitions that resulted from non-judicial foreclosures. Upon being notified of any eliminations, servicers must immediately restart the matters as judicial foreclosures.Fannie Mae has notified its two Retained Attorney Network law firms of its intentions with respect to pending and future Hawaii foreclosures.

Those firms are Routh, Crabtree & Olsen, PS, and Clay, Chapman, Iwamura, Pulice & Nervell, AP/ALC. Servicers are reminded that Fannie Mae foreclosure referrals in Hawaii must go to one of these two law firms in the network.Servicers are responsible, however, for managing the foreclosure process, including any foreclosures that have previously been referred to law firms that are not members of the Fannie Mae Retained Attorney Network.Servicers should contact their Servicing Portfolio Manager, Servicing Consultant, or the National Servicing Organization's Servicer Solution Center at 1-888-FANNIE5 (888-326-6435) with any questions on this Notice. A great resource on this is "Honolulu Civil Beat" Updated: Follow up to above "Honolulu Civil Beat"